Best tv shows like A Very Peculiar Practice
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A young and idealistic Doctor Stephen Daker arrives at Lowlands University to work at the Health Centre, but has to cope with an eccentric set of colleagues.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 540
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: surreal, dark comedy, touching, realistic, witty, cynical, semi serious
Best tv shows and movies like A Very Peculiar Practice (1986):
Similar in 78%
The Beiderbecke Affair (1985)
Plot Summary:
Trevor Chaplin teaches woodwork and likes to listen to jazz. Jill Swinburne teaches English and wants to help save the planet. Trevor tries to buy some jazz records but this leads to meeting a "dazzlingly beautiful platinum blond", a suspicious detective sergeant and a strange pair of men running a junior football team. Big Al and Little Norm agree to help Trevor and Jill with their school supplies problems. Jill decides to stand as a local councillor. A tale of "Black Economies", council corruption and many strange characters all set to a background of Bix Beiderbecke.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 607
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: UK
Duration: 320 min
Plot tags: offbeat, realistic, suspenseful, witty, contemplative, semi serious
Similar in 83%
At Home with the Braithwaites (2000)
Plot Summary:
At Home with the Braithwaites is a British comedy-drama television series, created and written by Sally Wainwright. The storyline follows a suburban family from Leeds, whose life is turned upside down when the mother of the family wins 38 million pounds on the lottery. It was broadcast on ITV, for 26 episodes, from 20 January 2000 to 9 April 2003. At the beginning of the first series, each member of the Braithwaite family has an issue. Alison has to decide what to do with the winnings, and when to tell her family. David is having an affair with Elaine, his secretary at work. Virginia is on the verge of flunking out of university. Sarah has a crush on her drama teacher. Charlotte suspects that her mother may be the mystery lottery winner.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Comedy
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, cynical, semi serious, offbeat, dark comedy, surreal, black comedy
Similar in 79%
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976)
Plot Summary:
Disillusioned after a long career at Sunshine Desserts, Perrin goes through a mid-life crisis and fakes his own death. Returning in disguise after various attempts at finding a 'new life', he gets his old job back and finds nothing has changed. He is eventually found out, and in the second series has success with a chain of shops selling useless junk. That becomes so successful that he feels he has created a monster and decides to destroy it. In the third and final series he has a dream of forming a commune which his long suffering colleagues help bring to reality. Unfortunately that also fails and he finds himself back in a job not unlike the one he originally had at Sunshine Desserts.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, surreal, dark comedy, humorous, realistic, cynical, semi serious
Similar in 75%
Porterhouse Blue (1987)
Plot Summary:
In late-'80s Britain, Porterhouse College Cambridge is an anachronism, its students uniformly male and (in the vast number of cases) privately educated. When the incumbent Master dies (from a stroke brought on by overeating) the government revenges itself on Porterhouse by appointing as his successor an old graduate, the politician Sir Godber Evans. One of the tiny minority of state-school students the college has had forced on it over the years, Evans returns to his alma mater determined to drag this bastion of privilege into the twentieth century. The elderly academic staff cease their bickering and close ranks against him, but the new Master finds his most implacable and unscrupulous opponent in Skullion, the college porter.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 502
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 200 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, semi serious, biting, suspense
Similar in 78%
Money (2010)
Plot Summary:
An adaptation of the bestseller of the 1980s by Martin Amis.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 124
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: humorous, cynical, semi serious, psychological thriller, emotional, realistic
Similar in 90%
All Creatures Great and Small (1978)
Plot Summary:
All Creatures Great and Small is a British television series, based on the books of the British veterinary surgeon Alf Wight, who wrote under the pseudonym James Herriot. Ninety episodes were aired over two three-year runs. The first run was based directly on Herriot's books; the second was filmed with original scripts.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, sentimental, humorous, semi serious, feel good, atmospheric, talky, period drama
Similar in 82%
Asylum (1996)
Plot Summary:
Asylum is a British comedy series which was shown on Paramount Comedy Channel in 1996. Set in a mental asylum, it ran for one series of six episodes. Unlike traditional sitcoms or comedy television shows, it was to some extent an opportunity for stand-up routines by various comedians, mixed with an overall story involving much black humour. It is significant for involving a large number of British comedians, many who have gone on to work on some of the most successful comedy programmes of the last decade. It marked the first collaboration of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, who would go on to make cult sitcom Spaced. Many of the characters names were the same as those of the actors who portrayed them. David Devant & His Spirit Wife were the "house band" for the series, performing segments in every episode, from their first album, Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous. The lead-in track "Ginger" served as the programme's title music. The series has yet to be released on DVD; however, the full episodes are viewable on Norman Lovett's website.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 279
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 21 min
Plot tags: sitcom, dark comedy, offbeat, humorous, realistic, surreal, not serious, parody, black comedy, weird
Similar in 85%
Waiting for God (1990)
Plot Summary:
Waiting for God is a British sitcom that ran on BBC1 from 1990 to 1994 starring Graham Crowden as Tom and Stephanie Cole as Diana, two spirited residents of a retirement home who spend their time running rings around the home's oppressive management and their own families. It was written by Michael Aitkens. The show became very successful, running for five series. The programme is still repeated in the UK on various channels. Series one to five have run on PBS in the United States, and in New Zealand the show has aired various times since 2002.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, crime drama, game show, clever, humorous, realistic, cynical, semi serious
Similar in 78%
Getting On (2009)
Plot Summary:
Darkly comic series about life on a hospital ward and a nursing team who have to get on with the job despite challenges thrown up by the modern NHS.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, not serious, realistic, witty, dark comedy, light, feel good, offbeat, mockumentary
Similar in 80%
One Foot in the Grave (1990)
Plot Summary:
One Foot in the Grave is a BBC television sitcom series written by David Renwick. The show ran for six series, including seven Christmas specials, two Comic Relief specials, over an eleven-year period, from early 1990 to late 2000. The latter Comic Relief special was shown after the series officially ended in spring 2001. The series features the exploits of Victor Meldrew, played by Richard Wilson, and his long-suffering wife, Margaret, played by Annette Crosbie. The programmes invariably deal with Meldrew's battle against the problems he creates for himself. Living in a typical household in an unnamed English suburb, Victor takes involuntary early retirement. His various efforts to keep himself busy, while encountering various misfortunes and misunderstandings are the themes of the sitcom. The series was largely filmed on location in Walkford, near New Milton in Hampshire, although several clues show that the series may have been set in Hampshire – possibly Winchester. Despite its traditional production, the series supplants its domestic sitcom setting with elements of black humour and surrealism. The series was occasionally the subject of controversy for some of its darker story elements, but was nevertheless the recipient of a number of awards, including the 1992 BAFTA for Best Comedy. In 2004, the series came tenth in a 2004 BBC poll to find "Britain's Best Sitcom". The programme also came 80th in the British Film Institute's 100 Greatest British Television Programmes. The series, originally shown on BBC One, is now available on DVD and is regularly repeated in the United Kingdom on Gold. Seven episodes were remade for BBC Radio 2 and the series also inspired a novel.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sitcom, funny, dark comedy, surreal, humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, semi serious
Similar in 77%
Mapp & Lucia (2014)
Plot Summary:
1930s comedy drama based on EF Benson's novels, about the rivalry between two women in a quaint village.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 787
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, realistic, witty, historical drama, period piece
Similar in 76%
Doc Martin (2004)
Plot Summary:
Doc Martin is a British television comedy drama series starring Martin Clunes in the title role. It was created by Dominic Minghella after the character of Dr. Martin Bamford in the 2000 comedy film Saving Grace. The show is set in the fictional seaside village of Portwenn and filmed on location in the village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, England, with most interior scenes shot in a converted local barn. Five series aired between 2004 and 2011, together with a feature-length special that aired on Christmas Day 2006. Series 6 began airing on ITV on 2 September 2013.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 46 min
Plot tags: witty, clever, sincere, cynical, humorous, funny, sitcom, crime drama, hilarious, medical drama
Similar in 79%
Boon (1986)
Plot Summary:
Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV. It revolved around the life of a modern-day Lone Ranger and ex-firefighter, Ken Boon.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 983
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 78%
Pete versus Life (2010)
Plot Summary:
Pete versus Life is a Channel 4 sitcom created by George Jeffrie and Bert Tyler-Moore. It stars Rafe Spall and the first episode was aired on 6 August 2010. It was recommissioned for a second series after averaging 1.6 million viewers and a young demographic during its first run, and series two started airing on 21 October 2011.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 891
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, surreal, not serious, light, feel good, captivating, dark comedy, offbeat, realistic
Similar in 89%
Sirens (2011)
Plot Summary:
Sirens is a British comedy-drama about an ambulance service team broadcast on Channel 4. It was first screened on 27 June 2011. The series is based on the book Blood, Sweat & Tea by Brian Kellett. The series is filmed predominantly in Leeds with some filmed in the surrounding areas. Locations featured including Headingley, Kirkstall, Adel, Hyde Park, Cookridge, Chapel Allerton and the main city centre including shopping areas of Briggate and Headrow. On 17 October 2011, Rhys Thomas and Channel 4 confirmed that there would not be a second series.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: humorous, light, feel good, captivating, touching, realistic, witty, semi serious, queer cinema
Similar in 84%
Critical Care (1997)
Plot Summary:
Werner Ernst is a young hospital resident who becomes embroiled in a legal battle between two half-sisters who are fighting over the care of their comatose father. But are they really fighting over their father's care, or over his $10 million estate? Meanwhile, Werner must contend with his nutty supervisor, who insists that he only care for patients with full insurance. Can Werner sidestep the hospital's legal team and do what's best for the patient?.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: black comedy, humorous, cynical, dark comedy, independent film, clever, realistic, witty, semi serious, biting
Similar in 84%
AfterMASH (1983)
Plot Summary:
AfterMASH is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from September 26, 1983, to December 11, 1984. A spin-off of the series M*A*S*H, the show takes place immediately following the end of the Korean War and chronicles the adventures of three characters from the original series: Colonel Potter, Klinger and Father Mulcahy. M*A*S*H supporting cast-member Kellye Nakahara joined them, albeit off-camera, as the voice of the hospital's public address system. Rosalind Chao rounded out the starring cast as Soon-Lee Klinger, a Korean refugee whom Klinger met, fell in love with and married in the M*A*S*H series finale "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen." AfterMASH premiered in the fall of 1983 in the same Monday night 9:00 P.M. EST. time slot as its predecessor M*A*S*H. It finished 10th out of all network shows for the 1983-1984 season according to Nielsen Media Research television ratings. For its second season CBS moved the show to Tuesday nights at 8:00 EST., opposite NBC's top ten hit The A-Team, and launched a marketing campaign featuring illustrations by Sanford Kossin of Max Klinger in a nurse's uniform, shaving off Mr. T's signature mohawk, theorizing that AfterMASH would take a large portion of The A-Team's audience. The theory, however, was proven wrong. In fact, the exact opposite occurred, as AfterMASH's ratings plummeted to near the bottom of the television rankings and the show was canceled nine episodes into its second season, while The A-Team continued until 1987, with 97 episodes.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 763
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, retro, clever, feel good, humorous, realistic, witty, not serious
Similar in 88%
A Young Doctor's Notebook (2012)
Plot Summary:
A young doctor who has graduated at the top of his class from the Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry is thrust out into an isolated and impoverished country side as the village's only doctor. As he learns to adapt to his new lifestyle, he develops a morphine addiction to stay his sanity while realizing what being a doctor in the real world means.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: realistic, clever, medical drama, dark, sitcom, costume drama, historical drama, dark comedy, humorous, witty
Similar in 88%
The Royal (2003)
Plot Summary:
Follows the staff and patients of a Yorkshire cottage hospital in the 60s, embroiled in tangled love lives and bitter power struggles.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: medical drama, captivating, realistic, emotional, psychological, sincere, touching, serious, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 77%
The New Statesman (1987)
Plot Summary:
The New Statesman is a British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time. It was written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran at the request of, and as a starring vehicle for, its principal actor, Rik Mayall. The show's theme tune is an arrangement by Alan Hawkshaw of part of the Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. The programme was made by the ITV franchise Yorkshire Television between 1987 and 1992, although the BBC made two special episodes; one in 1988, the other in 1994.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: sitcom, dark comedy, political, surreal, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, parody
Similar in 76%
Rock & Chips (2010)
Plot Summary:
Prequel to Only Fools and Horses, set in the 1960s, Joan Trotter is in an unhappy marriage with the work-shy Reg, with whom she has a teenage son, Derek ("Del Boy"). However, the reappearance in Peckham of bank robber, "art connoisseur" and womaniser Freddie Robdal, recently released after a ten year prison sentence, would bring about changes in Joan's life.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious
Similar in 78%
Behaving Badly (1989)
Plot Summary:
Behaving Badly is a 1989 British television serial directed by David Tucker. The teleplay by Catherine Heath and Moira Williams is based on Heath's novel of the same name. It was initially broadcast by Channel 4. The series was released on DVD in 2005. The plot focuses on Bridget Mayor, a middle-aged housewife and part-time teacher who is forced to re-evaluate her life when her husband of twenty years abandons her for a younger woman.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 160
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, semi serious, dark comedy
Similar in 86%
Ballykissangel (1996)
Plot Summary:
Ballykissangel is a BBC television drama set in Ireland, produced in-house by BBC Northern Ireland. The original story revolved around a young English Roman Catholic priest as he became part of a rural community. It ran for six series, which were first broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2001.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 77%
Sensitive Skin (2005)
Plot Summary:
Bittersweet comedy about a 61-year-old former model trying to cope with life in London.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 317
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 29 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, sincere, clever, realistic, witty, semi serious
Similar in 81%
Teachers (2001)
Plot Summary:
Teachers is a British television comedy-drama series, created by Tim Loane and originally shown on Channel 4. The series follows a group of secondary school teachers in their daily lives. While the first series centers heavily around probationary teacher Simon Casey, later series have a more balanced ensemble approach. The cast changes dramatically over time, with few original characters remaining by the fourth series. While some of these disappearances are explained, others happen between series without explanation. The first three series are set in the fictional Summerdown Comprehensive, which merges with another school in the fourth series to form Wattkins School. The first three series were filmed at the former Merrywood school, while the fourth was filmed at the former Lockleaze school in Bristol, England. Teachers was nominated for six BAFTA awards between 2002 and 2004, and was nominated for Best Comedy Drama at the British Comedy Awards in 2003. In January 2005, after a muted reception to the fourth series, Channel 4 announced that Teachers would not continue for a fifth series. A short-lived U.S. version was aired in 2006.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: realistic, humorous, semi serious, sitcom, soap opera, witty, sexual, sexy, learning
Similar in 83%
St. Elsewhere (1982)
Plot Summary:
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series starred Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels as teaching doctors at a lightly-regarded Boston hospital who gave interns a promising future in making critical medical and life decisions. The series was produced by MTM Enterprises, which had success with a similar NBC series, the police drama Hill Street Blues, during that same time; both series were often compared to each other for their use of ensemble casts and overlapping serialized storylines. St. Elsewhere was filmed at CBS/MTM Studios, which was known as CBS/Fox Studios when the show began; coincidentally, 20th Century Fox wound up acquiring the rights to the series when it bought MTM Enterprises in the 1990s. Known for its combination of gritty, realistic drama and moments of black comedy, St. Elsewhere gained a small yet loyal following over its 6-season, 137-episode run; the series also found a strong audience in Nielsen's 18-49 age demographic, a young demo later known for a young, affluent audience that TV advertisers are eager to reach. The series also earned critical acclaim during its run, earning 13 Emmy Awards for its writing, acting, and directing. St. Elsewhere was ranked #20 on TV Guide's 2002 list of "The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.", with the magazine also selecting it as the best drama series of the 1980s in a 1993 issue.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: medical drama, realistic, serious, witty, talky, bad ending, dark comedy, clever, captivating, surprise ending
Similar in 87%
Kingdom (2007)
Plot Summary:
Kingdom is a British television series produced by Parallel Film and Television Productions for the ITV network. It was created by Simon Wheeler and stars Stephen Fry as Peter Kingdom, a Norfolk solicitor who is coping with family, colleagues, and the strange locals who come to him for legal assistance. The series also starred Hermione Norris, Celia Imrie, Karl Davies, Phyllida Law and Tony Slattery. The first series of six one-hour episodes was aired in 2007 and averaged six million viewers per week. Despite a mid-series ratings dip, the executive chairman of ITV praised the programme and ordered a second series, which was filmed in 2007 and broadcast in January and February 2008. Filming on the third series ran from July to September 2008 for broadcast from 7 June 2009. Stephen Fry announced on his blog in October 2009 that ITV was cancelling the series, which was later confirmed by the channel, which said that given tighter budgets, more expensive productions were being cut.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: clever, humorous, realistic, semi serious, witty, talky, cynical
Similar in 77%
Free Agents (2009)
Plot Summary:
Free Agents is a romantic black comedy starring Stephen Mangan, Sharon Horgan and Anthony Head. Originally a pilot for Channel 4 in November 2007, the series began on 13 February 2009. It spawned a short lived US remake, which was cancelled after just 4 episodes aired, although 4 more were later released on Hulu.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 396
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, witty, talky, sitcom, dark comedy, hilarious, fast
Similar in 87%
Moving Wallpaper (2008)
Plot Summary:
Moving Wallpaper is a British satirical comedy-drama television series set in a TV production unit. It ran on ITV for two series in 2008–2009. The subject of the first series was the production of a soap called Echo Beach, each episode of which aired directly after the Moving Wallpaper episode about its production. The second series was based around the production of a "zombie show" called Renaissance. Ben Miller confirmed in May 2009 on his Twitter account that no further series will be made. The title, "Moving Wallpaper", is a disparaging term applied to uninspiring TV shows, or to television in general, referring to the perception that modern television viewers are "mindless absorbers of images", as if staring at wallpaper.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 311
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: semi serious, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, talky
Similar in 82%
The Young Ones (1982)
Plot Summary:
The Young Ones is a British sitcom, broadcast in Great Britain from 1982 to 1984 in two six-part series. Shown on BBC2, it featured anarchic, offbeat humour which helped bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers. In 1985, it was shown on MTV, one of the first non-music television shows on the fledgling channel.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 35 min
Plot tags: sitcom, funny, psychedelic, absurd, dark comedy, hilarious, offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty